


The Beauty and the Nymph

by MightyBrownie



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M, M/M, Post-Kingdom Hearts III
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2019-12-26 23:24:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18292301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MightyBrownie/pseuds/MightyBrownie
Summary: In legend, laurel trees were the only trees on Earth that were never struck by lightning.





	1. White Rose

**Author's Note:**

> Post-KH3 story.  
> English is not my native language.

Everything around her was covered in darkness.

She wandered and wandered through those empty and endless hallways for who knows how much time. The young woman didn't really know what force was making her able to keep moving forward, she didn't understand why she was being so stubborn. That spiky haired twerp told her that she was going to be recompleted, and she knew that. But how much time had passed since that conversation? The first time that she perished as a nobody she wasn't even aware of the time she had spent on the brink of non-existence. This time around, things were very different.

Her memories were getting really hazy. Fragments of forgotten conversations echoed inside her heart. What was up with that? It's true that she didn't remember much about her past life, one day she just woke up on Traverse Town knowing nothing but her name; "Elrena". Not even that felt right. She had spent so much more time as Larxene (or at least that she remembered) that it had kind of become her identity. She didn't mind being called like that nor being a nobody. As a human all she had were doubts about her origins, and existential crises.

She had no one except him. He was the only one she could call a friend. Perhaps more than that. But it didn't matter anymore, without an organization to overthrow they'd probably never see each other again. That thought was truly painful for Elrena and this kind of feeling was exactly why she prefered to be without a heart.

As Larxene, she joined the True Organization because he was there. Marluxia was there. From the first day they met, a connection could be felt. He was the only one she liked. Marluxia gave her this nostalgic feeling, she gravitated torwards him and felt that it was the same for him. Being along for the ride with him just...felt right.

For some reason she didn't understand, she wanted Marluxia to call her by her true name. Larxene didn't tell him of course. They were both okay with being nobodies and she didn't want to bring up her clueless original self.

All these thoughts enveloped Elrena's mind as she continued walking and walking through that empty void until....she gave up. She decided to just sit there and wait for something to actually  happen. It wasn't like she had any place to go or someone to talk to. Elrena hated this.

As if someone was listening to Elrena's heart fears and doubts, a voice talked to her.

 "Elrena?"

Elrena's facial expression completely changed. Was she going crazy? That voice sounded way too familiar.

 "Yeah? Who are you?"

 "It worked!"-replied the mysterious voice happily-"It's me, Naminé. You know, from the castle."

 Elrena's eyes were now wide open.

"So, is this thing your doing? I guess it's fair. Well, how long is the little witch's revenge going to be?"

"What? Nonono, you got the wrong idea. I want to help you."

Elrena raised an eyebrow, unable to understand what was going on.

"Help me? Why on Earth would you do that?"

"Right now, you're trapped in some isolated place of the Realm In Between, unable to be fully recompleted. I don't understand how, but I felt your need for help deep inside my heart. So I decided to trace that connection."

"But why? You should remember the things I did. I went full bad guy on you."

"I remember, but I also don't mind. I know how painful it is to feel alone and empty. It can lead us to do horrible things, like the ones I did to Sora, the Riku replica and many others."

Elrena sighed. She understood Naminé, but their situations were very different. The witch couldn't stand being without a heart, being Kairi's shadow. But as Larxene, Elrena felt comfortable.

"Have it your way then. Do you have any idea of why i'm unable to return to the Realm of Light?"

"I think I do. All the pieces necessary for your return are there...except one. Something in the Keyblade Graveyard has touched your heart, revealing a whole chain of memories that remained hidden deep inside you."

Elrena shivered. Could those memories be her original ones? If they were returning, that would explain why she was thinking of things and conversations she was unable to recall. But, why would the Keyblade Graveyard bring them back? She had nothing to do with that place, did she?

"So, if I regain those memories...Will I be able to come back?"

"I think. But each time I try to read into them I get repelled by a powerful force I don't understand."

Elrena bitterly smiled.

"Then I guess I'm trapped here forever huh."

"You could be. But there's still a way. I think I can unlock them if you find a powerful memory or feeling linked to that chain. Our memories are closely tethered to one another, so there must be something inside you that I can use as a start point to create a path."

_"A strong memory or feeling"_   Elrena stirred this thought again and again.

She closed her eyes and tried to look inside her heart, even if she didn't know it that much.

"Elrena, to find something like that you don't have to look for it"-said Naminé, knowing that she was probably struggling-"Let it come to you. Don't think about anything. What is the first thing your heart tries to reach?"

Elrena followed the girl's advice, she took a deep breath and pushed away from her mind any thought, fear or doubt. She turned herself into a total clean slate.

Elrena stayed like that for quite some time until a rather familiar smell came to her senses. The smell of flowers.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and for a split second she saw a pink haired figure in the distance. Elrena sincerely smiled.

"You found it. I'm glad." said Naminé.

"So, what now, witch?"

"Nothing, you just have to go torwards the light. It'll guide you."

Elrena looked at her surroundings until she saw it. A big portal of light was shining right in front of her.

"Wait, but what about my memories? Didn't you have to wake them up or something?"

Naminé giggled.

"I've already reached the chain thanks to your special memory. Once you go through that entrance, you'll be back in the Realm of Light and everything will come back to you."

"Just like that, huh?"

Elrena slowly walked torwards the light until she suddenly stopped, looking down.

She was scared for the first time in forever, scared of whoever she truly is, scared of whoever she is going to be and scared of having to face her human feelings.

"What's wrong, Elrena?"

Elrena gulped.

"What....if it's better for me to stay right here? I mean, it's not like someone misses me."

Naminé stayed quiet for a few minutes.

"Not much time ago, I used to think just like you. But then Sora came along and told me that the person I wanted to see the most wouldn't let me down. Do you have someone you want to see?"

Elrena remembered her last conversation with Sora and smiled.

"Yeah, there's someone I like to tag along with."

"Then I'm sure that that someone won't let you down either."

Elrena took one step closer to the light.

"Hey witc- I mean, Naminé. Sorry for what I did to you and... Thank you."

Naminé smiled.

"That line's not you"

Elrena chuckled.

"You're right. That's why you better treasure it, 'cause you won't ever hear that from me again."

"Uh-huh."

They both sincerely laughed together until Elrena decided to finally go through the light.

* * *

 

Rain.

Traverse Town was isolated by rain and the only person on the streets was a young blonde woman who lied unconscious on the ground.

Raindrops kept landing on the girl's face until her eyelids twitched. She slowly woke up and got up with minor difficulties.

The last thing she remembered was exiting that empty dark void thanks to Naminé. But she didn't feel any different nor did she remember anything. She was back in Traverse Town without her memories nor anyone around. The girl released a deep sigh and looked down....and that's where she saw it, that's where she saw herself reflected on a puddle of water. 

What she saw wasn't the image of Larxene. It wasn't the clueless Elrena's one either. It was hers, the true Elrena's reflection. It happened in an instant, tons of memories started to flood her like a tsunami, her heart was being shaked with emotions. Everything was coming back to her.

Daybreak Town, the dandelions, the keyblade, the war and..... She started running.

She ran clumsily and even tripped over because of the wet sidewalks, but she didn't care, she got up with lightning speed every time. She kept running and running. Elrena didn't know where she was going, but she certainly knew what she was looking for.

 

_All my time as a nobody, I thought that being without a heart was better, that I'd prefer that. But that's not what I wanted nor did I feel comfortable with it. It just made things easier for me, everything was so simple. Everyone else seemed to have everything figured out while I was lost and clueless, so I decided to step forward and put myself above everyone else. I turned life into a game where I was always the winner and the rest a bunch  of losers. He was the only one I treated as an equal, and I understand now that he was as clueless as I was. But that is over now, everything has come back to me. These feelings I had are now much more stronger, and I'm not disowning them._

_May my heart be my guiding key._

 

Elrena stopped and tried to catch her breath, she had been running for almost an hour just following her heart's command in hopes to find him. And there he was.

Lauriam was right there, looking how the rain bathed the flowers and gentlely caressing their petals.

"Lauriam." she called him.

He looked at her and smiled. Elrena started to walk torwards him until he said:

"Nice to see you, Larxene."

Elrena froze.

_Didn't he remember? Was he able to make it back without his memories? Did he...forget about her?_

All these doubts were interrupted when Lauriam giggled.

"Sorry, I was messing around." he said.

Elrena went to him, summoned her keyblade and pointed it at Lauriam.

"I'm going to mop the floor with you, flower-boy"

They both laughed and got closer.

"I've missed you, Elrena." he said softly.

Elrena looked down.

"Geez, I've missed you too, dumbass."

Lauriam blushed a little.

"Elrena, I-"

He couldn't finish his sentence. Elrena stood on tiptoes and joined her lips with his. After the initial surprise, Lauriam closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her. When the kiss ended, they both smiled at each other.

"We could say this kiss has been thousands of years in the making huh." Lauriam said.

"Yeah, you really do it like someone who hasn't kissed anyone in thousands of years." she playfully replied.

"Oh, come on."

They both laughed, they both teared up, and they both hugged for as long as they were able.

"Thank you for not letting me down" Elrena whispered.


	2. Orange Rose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Several weeks have passed since Elrena and Lauriam reunited. The two are still figuring things out, and it's unclear where their relationship stands at the moment.  
> Lauriam has moved to Radiant Garden, and some days ago he decided to ask Elrena to go on a date with him.

Elrena hugged a pillow and rolled around the bed, with her face bright red, and exploding with both excitement and embarrassment.

They had decided to meet at 11 o'clock, but Elrena couldn't contain herself. Therefore, she was already fully awake at 5.am.

 _"Geez, why am I like this? I'm truly acting like a baby"_ -she thought- _"Welp, there are 6 hours left until flower-boy appears at the plaza, so I should try to stop acting like Santa Claus is coming to town and get some rest. Besides, that guy is surely deep sleeping right now, and dreaming about gardening or something."_

Lauriam had been awake since 3.am.

The once called graceful assassin looked at his wardrobe with an almost desperate look on his face. When he asked Elrena to go out on a date with him, he acted as cool and relaxed as one can get, but now that the moment was upon them, he was getting really nervous about the tiniest things. He had plenty of outfits to choose from that would be perfectly fine, but he wanted to impress her as much as she had impressed him with that kiss. The kiss. Lauriam touched his lips with his fingertips, remembering that event. That memory alone was enough to make him blush and be all flustered.

At 6.am Lauriam had finally chosen what to wear.

 _"I should go to sleep again, goldilocks has probably been sleeping for 12 hours now."_ He thought.

* * *

 

The rays of sunlight had been leaking through Elrena's window for hours.

Her eyelids twitched, and the girl slowly opened her eyes. She yawned and stretched like a cat. Shortly after, Elrena glanced at the clock, only to discover that it was 10 o'clock. If she still had any urge to sleep, it disappeared in an instant. With feline reflexes, she jumped out of her bed and ran to the kitchen. She had breakfast in less than 5 minutes and made her way to the bathroom. After that, and wrapped in a towel, she stood up in front of her wardrobe with a distressed look on her face. She chose what to wear rather easily, except for the tie. She had a great variety of them and didn't know what to go for. Finally, Elrena chose an orange one, and once she was all clothed, she went to the bathroom to style her hair. After a few tries Elrena came to a conclusion.

 _"Ah, screw it."_ She said to herself while her hands glowed with electricity.

With that energy flowing through her fingers, she brought all her hair backwards. After a few seconds, her usual antennas also popped up.

_"If I opened a gate, I could get to the plaza right away. But I just can't blast through a portal in front of everyone, guess I'll have to do some excercise"._

With only five minutes left, Elrena started running torwards the plaza as fast as she was able to. On her way she crashed into a young boy and they both fell down.

"Sorry kid." said Elrena as she got up.

 "Be more careful, old hag." said the boy.

Elrena suddenly stopped, and looked at him visibly angry, but smiling at the same time. The boy thought he was going to die there.

"Don't try me, pipsqueak."

The kid gulped and ran away. Elrena shruged before continuing to run again. In the end, she reached the plaza with still 2 minutes to go, and waited there for Lauriam to arrive. 

"I hope you didn't have to wait much." said Lauriam as he arrived.

"Oh, I've been here for hours. I started to think you had forgotten about me. " answered Elrena with exaggerated dramatism.

"Oh really? Because on my way here, a boy warned me about a blonde demon that was running torwards the same direction I was going to."

They both laughed.

"I'm glad I left an impression."

"Oh, you always do."- said Lauriam with a heartwarming smile-"Hey, I brought you something."

Lauriam handed Elrena an orange rose.

"An orange rose?"

"Yeah, many people believe that they represent the bridge between friendship and love."

Elrena felt like she was melting, but she managed to rapidly pull herself together.

"Looks like someone has the big crush, huh?"

"So you've seen through my disguise, m'lady." theatrically replied Lauriam.

"You're so dumb. Hey, where do you want to go? I've heard that a new florist has opened near the castle."

"Let's go somewhere else."

"Huh? Is that you, flower-boy?"

"Today, you're the only flower I need."

"GEEZ, YOU'RE SO CHEESY, EEK."

Lauriam chuckled and offered his hand to Elrena.

"Let's just spend time together and do whatever we feel like doing."

Elrena took his hand and sweetly smiled at him.

"Uh-huh."

The pair roamed around the city for hours. They didn't think about anything, but themselves, they didn't even notice the pass of time, they were in their own isolated bubble of time and space. It was a blast from the past, but also more intense and meaningful than those days. Even as nobodies they gravitated torwards each other, and cultivated feelings and emotions that were flooding them now. It was real, they were real, and their realities were being shaken by the resonance of their hearts.

Elrena and Lauriam stopped by a shop to buy some ice cream.

"Good aftenoon ma'am, we were here to ask for two sea-salt ice creams." said Lauriam politely.

"Of course, it would be 15 munny."-replied the woman-"I assume you youngsters are going to the fireworks."

"Fireworks?" asked Elrena visibly interested.

"Yeah, there's going to be a show today at 8 o'clock."

The two walked away eating their ice creams, and Lauriam noticed how Elrena seemed really excited about that fireworks show.

"Hey Elrena, do you want to go and see that?"

"Huh? Um, yeah. It's just.. back in Daybreak Town, I was never able to go to any of those, and i don't know, the thing of seeing lights in the sky seems..cool? I don't know."

" _Lights in the sky..."_ Lauriam thought.

Lauriam looked around and made sure that there wasn't anyone who could see them. Once he checked, Lauriam summoned his keyblade and opened a gate.

"Come with me, I want to show you something." he said to Elrena.

"B-but, if we go somewhere else, we'll miss the fireworks."

"That would be an unfortunate denouement." he said, smiling.

Elrena didn't know what was happening, but she decided to trust Lauriam and follow him through the portal.

They appeared in another world, one unknown to Elrena.

"Where are we?"

"This is the world of one of the new seven hearts, the one I found. Follow me."

With the sky getting darker and darker, and the night upon them, they went to a port, rented a small boat, and sailed a few meters into the ocean.

"So, why were we here?" asked Elrena, a bit underwhelmed because she couldn't see the fireworks.

"They used to hold this spectacle once a year, but now that the princess has returned, they do it more frequently."

 "What do you mean?"

Lauriam pointed at the sky, and that's where Elrena saw it. Thousands of lanterns floating across the sky that were illuminating everything bellow them.

Lauriam gently placed his hand on Elrena's.

"You said you wanted to see lights in the sky."

Elrena widely smiled, and saw Lauriam looking at the sky, with his face bathed in the lanterns lights. She wanted to see the spectacle too, but just...couldn't.

 _"Geez, he brought me to see the lights, lights that I've been wanting to see since forever, and all I can look to, is his face."_ -thought Elrena before noticing her tie and rose- _"An orange tie. Orange. An orange rose that...means...a bridge between friendship and..love."_

"Lauriam I-" she started to say.

Lauriam carefuly brought her closer by her tie and kissed her. After their lips departed, he intensely looked at her.

"Elrena, I love you."

Elrena couldn't articulate a word.

"Guess I could take the first step this time." he sweetly said.

"You did, but there are much more steps to take 'cause....'c-cause i love you too, goofball."

They passionately kissed again, and kept kissing until there wasn't any visible light in the sky.

 


	3. Red Rose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elrena and Lauriam know that they love each other, and they've been dating for a while now. But their relationship status is still unclear, therefore the "savage nymph" is getting really anxious. She's fine with the way things are, they already act like a couple, but she wants to be certain that they truly are one.

The orange skies of Twilight Town were everything Elrena needed to see as she waited for Lauriam to arrive. She really liked that world, that's why she suggested Lauriam to meet there. It was rather easy to convince him, they had been meeting in Radiant Garden for quite some time, and even if that was just fine for both of them as long as they were together, they decided to go for a change. Elrena sighed, the place wasn't the only thing she wanted to change, the young woman needed the confirmation that flower-boy and herself were an official couple, she liked and cherished what they had, but why not taking the step? They came to the conclusion that they both loved each other rather fastly, but it felt like they had been stuck in the same point for ages.

Elrena remembered she had told Lauriam that they had much more steps to take, but they hadn't made this one yet, and that stressed her out. Patience was never one of her qualities.

The arrival of Lauriam was noticeable even before he was visible. Wherever he went, the fragance of flowers followed, and it could be smelled from miles away.

 _"Why do I like someone so extra?"_ Elrena often asked herself.

"Good afternoon, Elrena." Lauriam greeted her.

"Heyyy."

The two kissed, and smiled at each other.

"Where do you want to go, pinky?" she asked.

"There's an open cinema some streets ahead, I think. Let's go there."

They both walked down the streets holding hands, without expecting the encounter they were about to have. Two figures appeared right in front of them, two really familiar ones.

"Wait, are those the rotten rats I think they are?" whispered Elrena.

"Axel and Saix, yes. Well, their somebodies to be exact."

"What are they doing here?"

"It might be a stretch, but they may be doing the same thing that we are." said Lauriam as he pointed to their hands.

"Ooohh." said Elrena as she adopted her best smug face.

* * *

 "Quick, Isa. Let's do like we haven't see them or...Oh! I know, I can throw my chakrams at them and be all like *oh, i thought that was a frisbee, my bad* and then we can use the distract-" 

"Hello." said Isa as he approached them.

"I hate you so much." whispered Lea.

"Good afternoon." said Lauriam with a playfully evil smile, reminiscent of his time as Marluxia.

"Well well, if it isn't the brainless red hedgehog and captain boredom. What are you two up to?" Elrena mocked them.

Even if Elrena had regained the ability to feel, and understood that placing herself above others was a coping mechanism, she still had her edge and found enjoyment in messing around.

"We ar-" started to say Lea.

"We are having a date." interrupted Isa.

"Dude! Why did you tell them?" 

"What? It's not a secret."

"I mean, it isn't b- but they are evil."

Elrena couldn't help but laugh.

"I see that humanity has soften you, big boy."

"Oh, shut up, Larxene. You should have very memorized how I can get if I'm all fired up. Or did you forget how I dismantled your little coup?"

"Here he goes again." sighed Isa.

Elrena and Lea looked into each other's eyes, ready to summon their keyblades and make a mess. Lauriam interrupted their conflict with soft but noisy laughs.

"Sorry, sorry. You can go on with your fight, it's just that as a feel-less nobody I didn't realize how funny these dumb discussions were." said Lauriam laughing.

"Dumb? Just because you are my boyfriend it doesn't mean-" Elrena said before suddenly stopping.

"Boyfriend?"-asked Isa-"So, are you two a couple too?"

"Isaaa, why did you tell them that?" intervened Lea.

"It's not like they couldn't guess. I had already told them that we were having a date."

"That was the first mistake, Isa. Man, oh man, talk about slow with a capital S."-Lea sighed.

"So"-Lea continued talking, now looking at Lauriam and Elrena-"Is it true? Are you two a couple now?"

Elrena gulped, and looked at Lauriam, waiting for him to answer. The young man also looked at Elrena, and after a few seconds of just looking at her, he smiled.

"Yeah, you could say we are. Right?" he  finally answered.

Elrena widely smiled.

"Yup. That's exactly what this brat and I are."

 Elrena was flooded with a feel of relief.  _"Finally"_ she thought.

 Isa smiled.

"This explains a lot of things, huh. Well, we should go."

"It wasn't unpleasant to see you." replied Lauriam.

The two couples said goodbye and went in their respective ways, not without Lea and Elrena giving one final deadly look to each other.

Lauriam and his now official girlfriend watched together the movie they wanted to, and kept enjoying themselves for the rest of the day.

When the stars were out, and they were about to go to Elrena's place, she decided to ask him something she had been thinking about.

"Hey, Lauriam."

"Yes?"

"Why do you think we took so long to call ourselves a couple? It's obvious why I didn't take the initiative, you know how hard this romantic stuff is for me. But you?"

Lauriam smiled.

"I imagined you would be thinking about that. You see, we both have lost a lot of things in our lives, but we've always had each other since the first day we met. And we had never stopped to label ourselves, not even as friends when we certainly were. So, you have been the only constant and unlabeled thing in my life. I feared that if we gave a name to our relationship, it would just...disappear. And I don't want to lose you Elrena. But, when I looked at you before, I thought about being able to call you my girlfriend and...I felt so lucky that all fears and worries disappeared. I just love you."

The answer Elrena gave him was absolute silence, she was unable to articulate a word, and for the first time in forever, she started to tear up.

"Elrena? Are you alrigh-"

Lauriam couldn't finish his sentence, Elrena started kissing him as if that was the last time she would be able to do it. Lauriam fully and gladly gave himself up to that kiss.

* * *

 

"Hey Isa. Why did you say before that those two being a couple explained a lot of things?"

"Some months ago, when we started to form the true organization, Xehanort picked Marluxia as one of its members."

"Right. So?"

"Shortly after, Larxene reached out to me to join in."

"Wait, by choice?"

"Yes, she said she was along for the ride. Now we know with who."

"Are you trying to make me believe that Larxene was willing to give her humanity up for another person? I don't believe you for a second."

"Well, it's not like you are exactly good at reading other people's hearts. Got it memorized?" Isa mockingly replied.

"You know, sometimes I just want to break up with you."

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, shut up."

The two chuckled and joined in a kiss.

* * *

When Lauriam's and Elrena's lips departed, they looked intensely but lovingly at each other for a few seconds.

"I guess i'm in a relationship with a corny spoilt brat, huh."

"Are you complaining?"

"Not at all."

They smiled and after some time, they went back to Radiant Garden and started walking torwards Elrena's house. When they arrived, Lauriam noticed that the girl had the orange rose he gave her next to her bed. He made a movement with his fingers and the flower slowly turned into a red one. 

 _"I guess this_   _colour_ _is more aproppiate now."_ he thought.


	4. To find is to lose and to lose is to find

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marluxia and Larxene "first" meeting is taken from the KH novel.

Lauriam looked at the night sky, it was covered with stars, each with its own shape, itensity and blinks. They were beautiful to behold, but not as beautiful as the young woman who layed on the bed of his bedroom. Lauriam abandoned the balcony and returned to her, she was deeply sleeping, so he tried to get into the bed without waking her up, once he succeded, he stayed there for a while just looking at her, carefuly and sweetly caressing her cheeks and her hair's antennas. Since Elrena and him were together, he had never been happier, and yet, he couldn't stop feeling like something was missing, like he had something else to be focused on. He did recover all of his memories, didn't he? And still, it didn't feel like it, why did he meet Elrena in the first place? He wasn't able to recall the reason, even if he knew there was one, something he was looking for? someone? Something was definetly missing, a lost memory piece. 

What Lauriam did perfectly remember was how he and Larxene had first met as nobodies.

 

_Marluxia was walking, alone and bored, in the world that never was. But he stopped at a call from behind, the call of a woman's voice, the only woman in the Organization's voice._

_"Hey, Marluxia"_  

_"What do you want, Larxene?" he coldly anwered._

_"I wanna ask you something. How did you come here?"_

_"Not particularly different to you"_

_"Hmph." Larxene brooded for a while on whether or not that answer satisfied her. "We aren't doing much, these days.  This place is boring, isn't it?_

_Larxene's word brought up an abrupt sense of affinity, for Marluxia was thinking the same thing._

_"Well, one of these days we'll be able to go out on missions. Now is the time for reserving power."_

_"Missions...speaking of that, don't you find what we're actually doing pretty unclear?" Larxene asked, and then stood next to Marluxia._

_"In order to take back our hearts..." Marluxia repeated Xemnas' exact words._

_Larxene cast her eyes down for a moment._

_"But I don't want or need a heart. It's painful with a heart. Right now I'm pretty comfortable."_

_"Maybe that's true." answered Marluxia, and started walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Larxene._

 

 

"It is indeed painful with a heart." thought Lauriam, now back from remembering. But he was willing to take all the pain in, because having a heart also delivered many other emotions, and if he was able to feel the things he felt whenever he was with the woman next to him, he was more than okay with a little bit of pain. He really believed that.

 The pain was still there nevertheless, a strange type of pain, the pain of forgetting something truly important. That pain lingered there until the next morning....he remembered.

"Elrena!" he nervously called her.

"Hey, hey. What's up?" answered her, concerned. Lauriam wasn't someone to lose his temper.

"It has come back to me. Everything, the piece that was missing....I-" Lauriam was talking really fast.

"What do you mean? Could you slow down?"

"Elrena, I... I have remembered her" Lauriam told her while tearing up. "I can't believe it took me this long, I'm horrible. I, I've got to find her, I-"

"Her? Are you okay? What are you talking about?"

"Her, Elrena. Strelitzia."

The sound of that name shook Elrena's heart, she raised her hands to her head, in pain.

"Of course...Strelitzia. Now I remember. But, she's..." Elrena looked at Lauriam, concerned.

"..gone" Lauriam said looking down. "But, but I can get her back, if I use the power of waking I-"

"Lauriam." Elrena was the most serious she had ever been. "You know that's not possible. You can't abuse of it, if you do, you'll be in serious trouble."

Lauriam bit his finger, trying to think this through. He was always calm and cold-headed, but now he couldn't help but being distressed. Any second that passed could mean a smaller chance of getting her back, a lot of time had passed already. But suddenly, Elrena wrapped her arms around him and brought him closer.

"You don't have to do this alone. We met because you seeked my help to try and find her, we're in this together, we've always been. What we have to do now is to seek help and information so we can find the best way to help her. Okay?"

"Yeah...yeah.. you're right."

Elrena warmly smiled at him, but without noticing, Lauriam started to do on her the same trick he used on Sora not so long ago, and she started to fall asleep. 

"Lauriam, no!-" Elrena finally noticed what was going on, but before she could do anything, she fell complety asleep.

 "I'm sorry." he said, and he truly was. But Lauriam couldn't just stay there and wait, he had to something."The drawbacks of having a heart."

* * *

 Elrena started to wake up, slowly opening her eyes and getting back up.

"What the-" she started to say, before she saw a figure standing at the end of the room, a familiar one, a really familiar one. "Is it you? Strelitzia, is it you?"

The girl smiled.

"Yeah, it's been so long Elrena."

Elrena smiled from side to side.

"I'm so glad that you're back, how are y- Wait, where's Lauriam?"

Strelitzia looked down.

"No- Nonono-" Elrena mumbled.

"He's outside." Strelitzia cut her.

Elrena raised an eyebrow, and with the speed of lightning she bursted outside of the door. And there he was, the young woman let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank god. For a moment I thought you were gone for good. Why did you have to scare me like that? And why did you leave alone? Well, the important thing is that everything is in place, I'm really happy fo-" Elrena stopped talking when she noticed Lauriam's fingers, which were getting transparent. "No..."

"I'm sorry, Elrena." he said.

"Nonono. Tell me you didn't use it."

Lauriam didn't answer.

"Tell me you didn't use it!"

"I did."

Elrena teared up, got closer to him and slapped him.

"Are you out of your mind?! Why?!"

Before Lauriam could answer, more parts of him started to get this transparent look. He stumbled, but Elrena caught him.

Lauriam smiled at her, Elrena couldn't stop crying.

"Remember what I always said at the castle?"

Elrena kept crying, unable to answer.

"I always said" Lauriam continued "to find is to lose and to lose is to find. I met you when I lost my sister. I met you again when I lost my humanity. To have Strelitzia back, something had to be lost, and it couldn't be you."

"This isn't the castle. You didn't have to do this, I told you before that this wasn't the way, that we could do this together." she said between tears.

"You're right, you're totally right. But I couldn't let time pass by, we don't know all the specifics to how this whole thing works, maybe every second was decisive."

"If you told me that, I would have changed my mindset and gone with you."

"Exactly. Because of partnering up with me, I've dragged you into awful things, you even joined the new Organization because of me. I couldn't drag you into this thing as well, it was too dangerous."

"But-but this is our thing, we're partners in crime, you idiot."

Lauriam's image started to get more transparent, blurry, inconsistent. He looked intensely to Elrena, and smiled.

"I'll try to make it back, goldilocks." 

"If you don't, I'll bring you back myself."

"You're the best partner in crime one could ever hope for. I love you, Elrena, Larxene."

"I love you too, Lauriam, Marluxia."

Lauriam leaned forward to kiss her, Elrena closed her eyes, but the kiss never happened. Before their lips could meet, the young man had vanished between her arms. Elrena started to hopelessly grab the air, before she totally broke down and screamed in pain to the sky.

That night, a storm happened.

* * *

 

The lights of the city were reflected on the newcomer's face. The pink-haired figure was lying unconscious on the ground. After some time, his eyelids twitched and he started to get up.

The first things he saw were a tall building with a big number on it, 104, and another boy not so far from him.

"Is that...Sora?"

 

 


End file.
